The Pinedale Anticline Field:

The Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) is
located within Sublette County, WY on a
narrow, diagonal swath of land that stretches
from just outside the Pinedale town limits
along U.S. Hwy 191 to about 70 miles north of
Rock Springs.   Exploration and Production in
the PAPA began in earnest in late 2000 after
new drilling and perforation techniques
employed in the in the deep, tight sand
reservoirs of the nearby Jonah Field proved
successful. After the release of the Bureau of
Land Management Record of Decision on
drilling in the PAPA, the volume of drilling
activity in the PAPA quickly surpassed the
Jonah Field as the project area is larger than
Jonah and thought to be ultimately more
lucrative. The gas reserves are several
thousand more feet deeper than Jonah and
winter restrictions on drilling were put into
place to protect wildlife habitat, however many
of those restrictions are in the process of being
lifted through various winter drilling
proposals.  
Drilling in the PAPA:

As of January 1st 2008, there are about 28
drilling rigs working in the PAPA, this is
about the same level of drilling as  this time last
year at the beginning of 2007.  In the summer
months of 2007, PAPA averaged about 30 rigs
working at a time

The number of rigs working in the Pinedale
Anticline Project Area (PAPA) has increased
almost exponentially between 2000 and 2005,
with large seasonal fluctuations. Since then the
growth has leveled somewhat, and restrictions
on winter drilling have been lifted in some
cases.

The average drilling time in the PAPA is about
40 days, as the average depth of the wells is
about 13,000 – 15,000 feet. In addition, a
number of the wells are directionally drilled,
also adding to the drilling time and ultimate
workforce requirements.
Click on Graphs to Enlarge
Chart: PAPA Rig Count 01/01/00-01/01/08
Chart: PAPA Rig Count as percent of county
total. 01/95-09/01/06
Seasonal Fluctuations:

The Pinedale Anticline has shown on average
bigger winter drops in rig activity as compared
to the Jonah Field. However, due to a pilot
winter drilling project, the winter of 2006 saw
the smallest decrease in drilling activity.

has changed from year to year , with the
winters of 2000 and 2001 seeing little change
from the preceding summer, while the winter
of 2005 saw about a 35% decrease in
rig-activity from the previous summer (Please
see chart below, click for a bigger picture).  
With increased winter drilling The extent of the
seasonal fluctuations in the PAPA expected in
the coming years, it is anticipated the seasonal
change shall decline.  
Chart: Winter Decrease in PAPA Rig Count
(actual number) 1996-2006.
Unless otherwise noted,
all contents of this
website are property of
the Sublette County
Socioeconomic Analysis
Advisory Committee.
Please Contact Us for
permission to use.
(as percent of PAPA total) 1996-2006
All Rig Count Data is from Drilling Records Inc./Divestco, USA.
Download the Rig Count Dataset Here.
PAPA SEIS

The Record of Decioson (ROD) for
the PAPA SEIS was signed on
September 12, 2008.  In
authorizing the development of 25
trillion cubic feet of natural gas,
the ROD sanctions the drilling of
4,399 additional wells from 600
well pads within the PAPA--this
amounts to an additional 250 well
pads. Moreover, the ROD repeals
seasonal drilling restrictions,
permitting the operators to drill
year round.  Click here to view the
ROD and SEIS